Bhutan; "Himalaya and Beyond" an overland expedition

Driven by the zeal for four wheel driving and the curiosity for Bhutan, an overland expedition entered the capital yesterday. With the theme 'Himalaya and Beyond', the expedition comprises of 23 sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and 67 members. The team will be in the country for about three days.

After cruising through the Phuentsholing-Thimphu national highway for about five hours, the team arrived at the capital towards evening.

Upon arrival at the clock tower square, the team was received by His Excellency the Minister for Information and Communications, Lyonpo Nandalal Rai.

This year, the organiser recorded the highest number of participation so far. This is attributed to having Bhutan as the destination.

This is also the first time the expedition designed Bhutan as its destination.

“Bhutan to me is so exotic because Bhutan has never been conquered. So Bhutan is like separated from the world. It is pure, original and you maintain the culture. Here we are seeing Bhutanese wearing their traditional dress. To us, it is something like treasure because we have lost a lot of our culture,” said Najuib Hasan, the Expedition Director.

The Expedition is organized by All-Terrain Convoy Malaysia, a Malaysian overland traveller's club, however, participation has come from as far as Australia. Few from Brunei and Taiwan are also participating.

The team en-route to Malaysia will also travel through India, China, Laos, Nepal, Tibet and Thailand. Source: BBS